As of 9am this morning, over 8,000 people were playing the online version of Pokémon Red/Blue over the live-streaming service Twitch. Using JavaScript, Python, and the VisualBoyAdvance emulator, participants can control characters via text chat next to the live feed, which parses only the words up, down, left, right, select, start, a and b into actions. It might seem crazy, but it’s working; yesterday, the combined skills of thousands of Pokémon masters across the globe successfully defeated Misty.

The game is running twenty-four/seven, so head over to the Twitch Plays Pokémon channel right now to get your Pokégame on.